A/n: thank you to all who followed, favorited, and reviewed. i love you and i hope i don't disappoint. this is going to be short, comprised of small stories of how the amis collect.

II.

It was a blur.

Éponine didn't remember finding Grantaire. He must have been stumbling outside of some bar. Desperate and lonely, he would be, shouting out at random strangers. Azelma must have rounded this drunkard up; she was a bartender and knew how to treat these men.

"Grantaire was a funny kid. He was happy, too," Éponine thought. "What happened to him?"

In high school, he had always been the partier. Grantaire would often come into school late, sunglasses shielding his light eyes, and weak legs guiding him into walls. He drank a lot; that was obvious, but he did that to have a good time. But it seems like he was drinking himself to death now.

"Grantaire," Azelma whispered the night before, "Look, look at me." She held his heavy head in her hands. His eyelids fluttered rapidly. "You're coming with us."

He muttered something inaudible.

"We're not going to let you drown yourself in alcohol."

"Are you an angel?" Éponine remembered him saying, and Azelma laughing lightly.

"No, just an intervention." She stated, pulling him into the backseat and laying him down. "Just sleep for now."

She couldn't recall the exact events that led her to opening the door for Joly.

The hypochondriac must have been having a panic attack, per the norm for the medical student.

He lived in the flat across from Combeferre, who insisted on picking up some food from his small refridgerator.

"Wasn't the idea of all this to forget everything and leave it all behind?" Azelma raised an eyebrow.

The boys, and Éponine were clearly insulted. "How dare you - sort of - take the name of food in vain!"

Éponine insisted on running in, instead of Combeferre, in case he was having any second thoughts.

She sure as hell didn't have one qualm.

To say Éponine was surprised upon seeing Combeferre's messy apartment was an understatement. The place looked like it had been ransacked by a mad novelist. Scrunched paper with wild ink marks littered the floor, tables, and seats. Books, miles high, were piled from floor to ceiling. The walls were white, and reflected the sun shining through the wooden window panes.

The girl made a beeline to the cabinets. She pulled out a box of potato chips, and other than that was a jar of olives.

"Merde, Combeferre," she laughed to herself, "It seems all that satisfies you are black words on white pages."

The door creaked slowly.

Éponine turned.

Standing in the doorway was a man. The wild look of a deer in headlights occupied his face, his lips struggled to form words.

"Y- You- You're not Com-" He stuttered.

"Joly! It's Éponine! Remember me? From high school?" She approached him slowly, taking careful steps.

"COMBEFERRE!" He screamed down the stairwell hopelessly, "THERE'S A WOMAN PILLAGING YOUR APARTMENT!" He turned, a second away from running.

"JOLY!" Now she was the one screaming, "You must remember me!" She picked up the nearest book and threw it in his direction, close enough to Joly for him to impulsively duck.

Shaking, his worried eyes searched her face for recognition.

Éponine rolled her dark eyes, and swallowed hard. She struggled to keep her voice calm. "Uh, I was the one-" She had not wanted to bring this up. "I was that girl who was in love with Marius Pontmercy."

"Ohh," a thing of a smile played on his lips, "Wait." The smile was gone in a blink. "What the hell are you doing in Combeferre's flat?"

"Uh," Éponine tried to pick out the right words, "We're going on a roadtrip. I need to get his stuff."

"Roadtrip? Combeferre? Doesn't sound right." He watched her skeptically as she dug around his cabinets in the kitchen.

"Uh, well yes. He's decided to be a bit spontaneous."

"I can never abandon everything like that. Plus, he can only bring so many books with him at a time. He'll be back in no time."

"Think so, Monsieur?" teased Éponine, throwing some paperback books into her sack, knowing 'Ferre would be appreciative.

"Oh," breathed Joly, "I know so. Men, like him and me, we don't do well with 'spontaneit-"

"Can you help me with this bag, Joly?"

"You're fully capable, 'Ponine."

"Can you help me with this bag, Dan-"

"Don't," he scolded softly. He held out a hand, which Éponine dropped the bag in. "Don't ever say that."

"Got a problem, Danielle?" Éponine raised an eyebrow, a sly smile creeping on her mouth.

Joly remained silent for the lapse between her saying his actual birth name, (God knows how she found out), and him arriving at the van parked outside the complex.

"Okay," He set the bag of books down, making sure he didn't get too close to the vehicle. However, he did happen to notice a familiar face sitting upright in the trunk. "Grantaire?" Joly asked, cocking his head slightly. "What are you doing in-"

Grantaire had managed to pull Joly into the van in a swift motion.

"What the-?" croaked Joly as Éponine slammed the door shut, trapping him in the tiny space next to Grantaire.

"Have a drink, mon ami," Grantaire pulled a small bottle of liquor out from his boot, "You're going to need it."

Not long after the kidnapping of Joly, Azelma slammed on the breaks.

The group in the van, numbered 5 in total; Éponine, Azelma, Combeferre, Grantaire, and Joly jerked forward and simultaneously groaned.

"Wait!" Azelma said suddenly. "What the actual hell are we doing, 'Ponine?!"

"We are driving God knows where." Éponine retorted rather blankly.

"Mon dieu, mon dieu," Azelma repeated, worry laced in her trembling voice. "Wh-what about-"

"Mon dieu," it was Combeferre who spoke now, "She's right. What have I done? I can't believe I agreed to this stupid escape-"

More voices spoke up, each faster and more anxious than the last.

"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELVES!" Éponine shouted, silencing them. "I'm not sure about you guys, but I've had more fun in the past 3 hours listening to crappy music on the radio and driving in circles than my normal life. You guys were bored with your lives too. Don't try to make it like I've forced you to come with us. Except Danielle, he's an exception."

"Danielle?" Grantaire said, "Oh, Joly, so you are a girl." He playfully punched the hypochondriac's arm.

Before Joly could even curse at Éponine, Combeferre laughed.

"Great," he chuckled sarcastically, "Little 'Ponine has attracted the attention of a hitchhiker."

"I have a name," Azelma spat, glaring at the ex-book keeper. She jumped a bit when she discovered a man tapping on the glass of her door, motioning for her to roll down the window.

"Mind if I hitch a- hO- HOLY- HOLY SHIT!" The guy covered his mouth with his hand in disbelief. "Ce que l'enfer?!"

Éponine ducked her head into his view, "Courfeyrac?"

A wide smile spread across his face, " 'Ponine, I don't care what your objections are, I'm coming in." He swung open the door and planted himself on the seat nearest the window.

" 'Ferre? Grantaire? Joly? Dear God, what a day this has been. I just ran into Marius and Cosette about 5 minutes ago." Courfeyrac shifted, kicking his shoes off.

"You what?" Éponine said.

"I just saw Marius with Cosette, they were going to see-"

Éponine wasn't listening, she kicked her sister out of the drivers seat and hit the pedal.

Her eyes glanced in the rear-view mirror to question Courfeyrac, "What kind of car were they in?"

"Uh," he scratched his head, trying to remember, "It was white?"

"Good enough for me." Éponine looked into the distance, eyes set on a white spec barely skimming her vision.

a/n: ah! still 5 more people to add to the van. anyway, please review and tell me any ideas you have regarding how they come into the story, or places they visit, or even music selection. i'm always open to ideas! but please review, it really does make my day.